The Myth of Meritocracy By Irene Sanchez The scandal Operation Varsity Blues has many talking about corruption in higher education recently, but it exposes something many of us already knew was there. The unchecked privilege reserved for the wealthy of this country is nothing new. There are front doors many of them walk through such … Continue reading The Myth of Meritocracy
Tag: graduateschool
Why We Still Need Chicano/Latino Studies
Why we still need Chicanx/Latinx Studies By Irene Sanchez A student last year in my Latinx Studies class wrote, "If I am not myself, who will I be?" I asked myself when I read it: Who would I be? Would I be bowed head, eyes lowered, and ashamed? Would I be neither here nor there? … Continue reading Why We Still Need Chicano/Latino Studies
3 P’s of Graduate School Applications
3 P's of Graduate School Applications By: Xicana Ph.D. I know I have a lot of my critiques of the academy and elitists and will continue to have them and write about them, but that is precisely why I wanted to go to graduate school to begin with. I wanted to subvert the system. I … Continue reading 3 P’s of Graduate School Applications
Stop reinforcing the status quo inside or outside academia
Stop reinforcing the status quo inside or outside academia By Xicana Ph.D. The ivory tower as a whole doesn’t uplift anything, but those who reinforce it. It reinforces existing power. The status quo. A lot of folks within it do too. A lot of people who preach social justice do it every single day. Let’s … Continue reading Stop reinforcing the status quo inside or outside academia
Exceptionalism Can Never Be Radical: On use of sCHOLAr, and other things people think is ok.
Exceptionalism Can Never Be Radical: On use of sCHOLAr, and other things people think is ok. By Irene Sanchez (Xicana Ph.D.) Resistance is more than our existence. It is the constant challenging of the idea that somehow we got to where we are because we are the good ones, the ones who followed the rules, … Continue reading Exceptionalism Can Never Be Radical: On use of sCHOLAr, and other things people think is ok.
Your Brilliance Can’t Be Measured By Degrees: A Xicana Writer’s Reflection on Two Years Since Finishing a Ph.D.
Your Brilliance Can’t Be Measured by Degrees: A Xicana Writer's Reflections on Two Years Since Finishing a Ph.D. By Xicana Ph.D. "You don't build bridges to safe and familiar territories, you have to risk making un mundo nuevo, you have to risk uncertainty of change. And nepantla is the only space change happens. Change requires … Continue reading Your Brilliance Can’t Be Measured By Degrees: A Xicana Writer’s Reflection on Two Years Since Finishing a Ph.D.
From Community College to Ph.D., It Doesn’t Matter How Long it Takes You
It doesn’t matter how long it takes you. I told this to my students recently. I often give extra words of encouragement to the students who don’t even think they can go to college because they find themselves short on credits, in a continuation school, or in general feel as if they are incapable of … Continue reading From Community College to Ph.D., It Doesn’t Matter How Long it Takes You
If it’s Inaccessible to the Poor, Then What Is It?
If it's Inaccessible to the Poor, Then What Is It? By: Xicana Ph.D. I have seen the quote many times, “If it's accessible to the poor, it is neither radical nor revolutionary”. I agreed with this phrase, but then something happened that made me question how easy it is to call something out as not … Continue reading If it’s Inaccessible to the Poor, Then What Is It?